Lionel Messi's return to the starting line-up was not enough to prevent Barcelona drawing a third successive match across all competitions, as Athletic Bilbao held out for a 0-0 stalemate at San Mames in LaLiga.

Argentina superstar Messi was only named among the substitutes for Wednesday's 1-1 Copa del Rey draw against Real Madrid having struggled with a thigh injury and he looked a little off colour as Barca end the weekend just six points clear of Los Blancos in second.

Athletic edged an entertaining first half and went close on a couple of occasions, while Barca appeared to be missing the talents of Arthur in midfield – Arturo Vidal failing to impress in a similar role to the injured Brazilian, who faces a month out.

Ernesto Valverde's side had little luck creating clear-cut opportunities in the second half - albeit Nelson Semedo was contentiously denied a last-gasp penalty – and could have even have lost as Athletic, who had Oscar De Marcos sent off for a second bookable offence in injury-time, went close twice late on.

Barca struggled to cope during the early exchanges and had two lucky escapes. Yuri Berchiche drilled just wide of the bottom-right corner before Markel Susaeta's curling effort forced Marc-Andre ter Stegen into a wonderful acrobatic save.

The visitors gradually gained a foothold and went mightily close in the 26th minute, as Iago Herrerin beat Nelson Semedo – who was incorrectly pulled back for being offside at the end of the move – and nudged the ball to Messi, whose first-time effort from distance hit the crossbar.

Barca were convinced they should have had a penalty at the start of the second half when Luis Suarez's header appeared to strike the arm of Inigo Martinez, but nothing was given.

Athletic nearly took all of the points in the final 10 minutes, Inaki Williams heading wide from close range, before then seeing Ter Stegen produce a remarkable reaction save to thwart him from just 10 yards.

De Marcos was given his marching orders late on when handling the ball, and Barca were denied a penalty with the last action of the game – VAR failing to reward them despite Semedo appearing to be caught by Yeray Alvarez.

What does it mean? Barca blip coming at the wrong time

As Santiago Solari's Madrid – 3-1 victors over Atletico Madrid on Saturday – pick up the pace in LaLiga, cracks are starting to appear at Camp Nou. This may just be a brief blip, but Valverde needs his men to react quickly.

Alvarez in command at the back

Athletic had to contend with long periods under pressure in the second half, but Alvarez remained solid in defence, marshalling Luis Suarez particularly well. He was perhaps lucky to avoid conceding a late penalty for his tackle on Semedo, however.

Coutinho blends into the background

Even though he did not look entirely sharp, Messi was still seemingly expected to do all of the creating for Barca. Philippe Coutinho should be the one to take some of the burden off their talisman, but he offered very little spark, yet again.

Related items

Julen Lopetegui insists he would have used Vinicius Junior at Real Madrid this season, despite giving the teenager limited opportunities when he was in charge.

The highly rated Brazilian arrived at Madrid from Flamengo ahead of the 2018-19 campaign and was tipped to help fill the void left by departing great Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Vinicius played just 12 minutes across two substitute appearances in LaLiga before Lopetegui was sacked at the end of October, having himself endured a tough start to life at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Vinicius has subsequently established himself as a star man, scoring against Real Valladolid and Deportivo Alaves.

While some have wondered if Vinicius would have had the same impact had Lopetegui kept his job, the former Spain coach is adamant he was simply biding his time with the winger.

"Vinicius was in a period of adaptation and the time factor was very important," Lopetegui told El Partidazo.

"He was going to play because seasons last 10 months and not a month and a half. It is evident that he is a player who was in our plans.

"In the future, he would have played with us and there is no doubt he has a great future ahead of him."

Lopetegui endured a difficult 2018 as his agreement to join Madrid on the eve of the World Cup saw him sacked as Spain boss, before he departed the European champions less than five months later.

But the coach says he was glad to have the opportunity to lead two footballing heavyweights and hopes to grow from the experience.

"I had two extraordinary experiences as a coach and I enjoyed it a lot," he said. "We arrived at the World Cup very well prepared.

"At Madrid, it didn't last as long as we wanted. But there are situations that make you stronger and give you thicker skin."

Luka Jovic is the Bundesliga's most prolific forward this season and his performances for Eintracht Frankfurt have not gone unnoticed.

With a league-high 14 goals and 20 in all competitions, Jovic has been linked with Barcelona and reports have even gone as far to say the 21-year-old already has a personal agreement to join the LaLiga champions.

A product of Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade, Jovic – like many before him – was lured away from the capital by Benfica in 2016. He only made four appearances at Estadio da Luz, eventually moving to Frankfurt on a two-year loan deal.

The transfer included an option to buy and Frankfurt's decision to invest in Jovic has proved to be a masterstroke when you consider the reported fee stands at €7million and they could be set to receive in excess of €40m for the Serbia international.

Jovic's value has soared this season following an eight-goal Bundesliga campaign in 2017-18.

Jovic, who has already made history after becoming the youngest player to score five goals in a Bundesliga match during October's 7-1 rout of Fortuna Dusseldorf, has a better minutes-to-goal ratio (94) and shot conversion rate (31.82) than Lewandowski (144.46 and 21.31) and Thomas Muller (376.5 and 14.29), per Opta data.

His shooting accuracy (54.55) is also far superior to Lewandowski (39.34), while Jovic has also converted eight "big chances" and created 16 opportunities - making him a versatile threat up front.

With another six goals en route to the Europa League last 16, in-demand Jovic is seen as the ideal successor to Luis Suarez at Camp Nou. And as the goals continue to flow, Barca may be set for a transfer war amid interest from rivals Real Madrid and Chelsea.

Bernardo Silva believes Manchester City will take a significant stride towards becoming serial winners if they overcome Chelsea in the EFL Cup final on Sunday.

City won the trophy last season after beating Arsenal 3-0 in the final, as well as getting their hands on a third Premier League title.

The club are yet to retain a trophy in their history – something Silva wants to see corrected against Maurizio Sarri's side at Wembley.

"It would mean a lot for the history of the club," he said.

"That is one of our main goals: not only winning it once but keep winning and winning.

"We know we have the squad to do that but our opponents are very strong and it won't be an easy job."

City thumped Chelsea in the Premier League 6-0 less than a fortnight ago, but Silva insists it will be a far tougher game this time around.

"We should forget that match because it won't happen again," he added.

"We are not expecting the same result. We are playing against one of the best sides in the world, even though lately their results are not the best for them.

"Against those kind of players you can never relax and if you give them time to think, time to play and time to decide [what to do], they will destroy you. So, we have to play with the same intensity."